SurfCam - Sensor triggered remote imaging system for marine monitoring

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Closed

ISCF
ISCF
ISCF
ISCF
ISCF

£171,555

Feb. 1, 2023

July 31, 2023

* Vision

Low-trophic marine aquaculture and offshore renewables hold great potential as an emerging scalable method of producing sustainable food and generate low-carbon energy. However there is yet to be an accurate and reliable method of monitoring and validating the impact these industries are having on thier surrounding natural ecosystems.

PEBL CIC is developing an affordable (total cost < £2,000) remote monitoring system (SurfCam) that is either deployed as a stand alone unit or is mounted to existing marine infrastructure. The system is modular in design and integrates environmental sensors for detecting abnormalities in the local environment that may be associated with a risk to the local marine ecology. For example, a collision with a marine mammal, an accumulation of debris of ghost fish gear or the breaking of a mooring, which may create a significant entanglement risk.

The detection of this abnormality then triggers a imaging system to record video of its surrounding which subsequently sends the recording and environmental data wirelessly to the developments operator. This allows instant action to be taken and a strong evidence body to be built up on the impacts of the marine structure on the local environment. In addition to imaging as a response to environmental triggers, the same system can also be used to log the state of the infrastructure to taking pre-schedule recordings.

Key objectives
* Design the SurfCam system to be running up to 16-days month with remote operation at 2 different aquaculture sites in the UK
* Carry out stakeholder evaluation with each aquaculture site owner

Area of focus

The starting point for this project is an existing proof-of-concept (PoC) system that has been tested at sea at 4 sites across the UK. This PoC validated the efficacy for the environmental sensors and the robustness of in-house built waterproof enclosures for long-term deployment at sea. A key area of focus will be designing a mounting whereby imaging and acoustic sensors are coupled electronically but are mechanically isolated to eliminate noise from acoustic recordings

Innovation

Key innovations of the SeaLens system are;
* Data Observability Framework for anomaly detection algorithm that triggers the imaging system to conserve bandwidth and power for long term monitoring
* Remotely accessible and configurable imaging system with 2-way communication
* Solar-battery integration for long-term operation of system even in winter months